St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-19
A Dakota Man Who Dined
On DEVILS Crab and
SteWed Mice.
Pierce'S Abuse of Cleveland in
a Speeeh--The Northern
Pacific Lands.
Gratifying Progress Being
Made in Territorial Edu-
eational Matters.
The Peculiar Condition Of
Mining Stocks in the
Bleek Hills.
Snecial TO the Globe

Special to the Globe.
RAPID CITY, Nov. 1S.-The indict-
ments found by the grand jury at the
July term in this county against all and
several, the editors and publishers of
the Deadwood dailies, got setback
Saturday. In the case of the Indictment
against Porter Warner, editor OF the
DeadwoOd Times, his counsel entered a
demurrer and the court sustained 1t,
thus remanding the case to the grand
of legal abOrtionS.
These indictments were procured at
the instance and on the complaint of j.
w. Chadwick, secretary OF the Big Bend
Hydraulic cOmpany,tO punish the Dead
wood papers for denOuncing the COM
pany and himself as frauds and swim
oilers. A good deal of that sort of talk
has been running in the papers of the
Black Hills, almost, or entirely, without
exception. A good deal of mystery at
tends the inception and operations of
the Big Bend company; and
very few facts have ever
been offered in evidence of the
charges beyond the negative one that no
one in this country knew where or when
the gold could have been taken out upon
which to make the dividends which the
company has been regularly paying for
two years past. This is the only sub
Stantial foundation upon which any of
the talk has been based. Noreporter or
editor of all those who denounced it has.
ever been to inspect the ground OF the
company's operations and test his
charges as to the wOrthleSsneSs OF the
placer waShings. The stockholders and
managers have never paid any attention
to these charges, but have gone on
spending money In plant and work and
declaring dividends with exasperating
regularity and reckleSSneSS. The in
dictments were the first strike-back of
the Big Bend people, and when they
were presented the public generally
which has been in sympathy with the
newspaper riticiSmS-apprOved the
movement as holding out prospect OF
solving
THE MYSTERY OF THE BIG BEND.
But these hopes have been dashed to
the ground by the setting aside of the
first of these indictments. AS all the
others are phrased in the same way,
they all go d0wn-especially as nothing
could be hoped from prosecution on
questioned Indictment at the hands of
district-attorney unfriendly to the pros
ecutiOn From the time that these i'll
dictments were presented the indicted
editors have, Wanted their anxiety to
have the cases go to trial, and declared
their perfect ability to prove the truth
of all their charges of fraud upon the
Big Bend cOmpany-which, it is fair to
say, nearly everybody believed they
could do. Their first move to prevent
trial OF the question does not
look like a burning desire to
test their charges. 1t is possible,
however, that the editors were some
what demOralized by the unknown ter
rorS of libel suit, none OF them ever
having been indicted for libel before
an immunity that is rather surprising
in view of the fact that they have been
long at the pen, are independent, not to
say reckless writer's, and one of them
uses gall instead of ArnOld'S writing
fluid. Mr.. Chadwick, the complaining
witness, is absent in New York; what
he intends to do is unknown to his at
tOrneys here. Bets are about even that
nothing more will ever be heard of the
cases; that the indictments were in fact
bluff, to which the other players neither
put up chips nor call. In word, that
one is afraid to and the other daren't.
Meanwhile, the 'Big Bend Fraud" goes
on paying dividends.
buU UilcTt dTc lIlOtlcdtiOllS Jllttt tuc VI uc
inWardness of the Big Bend mystery
may be turned out to gaze by other and
more effective means than court pro-
ceedings between two unwilling liti-
giants. There are surface indications of
trouble brewing in the company. Three
of the officers and stockholders were out
here lately and spent some weeks in
speeding the workings of the Big Bend
and it's related enterprise, the Dakota
Water Power company DIETER known as
the Big Flume), and for the first time
WITHOUT THE HELP AND CHAPER-
ONAGE
of Mr.. Chadwick. This was the first in
dication of the New York shareholders
desire to pry into the source from which
their dividends came. They had always
before left the management of the af-
fairs at this end to Mr.. Chadwick. This
smelling committee returned to New
York about two weeks ago: but curiOS-
ity has again been put on the Qui vive
by the appearance here of an attorney
from New York, come about the affairs
of the two concerns. Another indica-
ton of threatening import is the atti-
tude lately assumed towards the Big
Bend by local mine manipulation who
has heretofore been near to the manage
ment and supported the operations of
Mr.. Chadwick. This manager is the
one who sold the placer ground up
Rapid creek to the Big Bend company,
and in turn leased it from the company
at the high rental of $4,000 a year. 1t
was out of this rental that dividends
were at one time said to have been paid,
and this fact also helped materially to
float the stock of the company in New
York. it is said. This gentleman, who
has all along declared that the pla-
GERS of the Big Bend company are
rich, is now understood to declare
that there is no gold-or, at least, that
there is not gold in paying quantities.
there. 1t is known also that this quon-
dam friend of Mr.. Chadwick is now hos
tile-nay, threatens to put on the war
paint unless certain large claims of his
to share of the profits in the sale of |
Big Bend stock are settled. Out of this
may come law suit, into which the
parties shall enter with more stomach
for the fight than the libel suit heroes
showed, and into it all may CLEAN the
bright sunlight of publicity. But the
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